One summer a large fat toad lived in our back yard. We children had named him Hoppy Hop.
Every evening about sunset the toad came to the steps of the back porch. Here he sat for a long time. He blinked and blinked his big bright eyes. He looked very wise.
What do you think he was doing? He was waiting to catch something good to eat. He was getting his supper. For supper he had moths, flies, gnats, bugs, and mosquitoes.
That summer it was very hot. It did not rain for a long time. The grass died, and the earth was hard and dry. Hoppy Hop did not look so big and fat as when we first saw him. Yet he seemed to catch as many flies as ever.
Mother and Sister Mary talked about Hoppy Hop. Sister Mary said, “This hot weather is too much for that toad. I think he looks thinner every day.”
“Yes,” said Mother, “he is not so big and fat as he used to be. Maybe he is thirsty. It hasn’t rained for a long time. I wonder whether he is getting enough water to drink.”
Little Billy heard his Mother and Mary talking about the toad. He began to feel very sorry for poor Hoppy Hop.
“I will give Hoppy Hop some fresh cool water,” Billy said. So he got one of his baby sister’s little toy dishes and filled it with cool water.
Before long the toad hopped up. Billy watched him, hoping to see him drink the water. The toad hopped very close to the little dish and sat there. But he did not take a drink.
Little Billy was sorry that Hoppy Hop did not drink the water. After a while Billy became tired of waiting.
“Maybe he is afraid of me. I’ll go away a little while. He may drink the water after I have gone,” said Billy, and he went into the house.
By and by Billy came out again to see what Hoppy Hop was doing. The toad was still sitting by the doorstep, blinking his big bright eyes. But he had not drunk any of the water.
After that Billy put water into the little dish two or three nights, but Hoppy Hop never drank any of it. Every day he seemed to get thinner and thinner.
On Friday afternoon Uncle Harry came to see Billy’s Mother. Uncle Harry said he could stay two weeks. Billy was glad of that.
As you may suppose, Billy soon told Uncle Harry all about Hoppy Hop. “He used to be the biggest, fattest toad you ever saw,” he said, “but now he looks lean and skinny. I’ll show him to you tonight.”
“All right,” said Uncle Harry, “maybe we can find out what is wrong.”
At night, when the family were all sitting on the porch, out from his sleeping place came Hoppy Hop.
“See, there he comes now; look at him,” said Billy to his uncle.
“He does look bad,” said Uncle Harry. “Has it rained here lately? I think he must need a drink.”
“Oh, no,” said Billy, “he doesn’t like water. I filled a little dish for him, and he wouldn’t drink any.”
“Let me see the dish you gave him,” said Uncle Harry.
Billy ran and got the little dish. When Uncle Harry saw it, he put his head back and laughed.
“Did you ever see a toad drink?” asked Uncle Harry.
“No,” said Billy, “I’ve never seen a toad drink. I watched and watched, but I don’t think Hoppy Hop has ever taken any water out of the dish.”
“Do you know how a toad drinks water?” asked Uncle Harry.
Instead of answering Billy, Uncle Harry went into the house. When he came back, he had a pie pan in one hand, and a pitcher of water in the other. He put the pan down on the ground, and filled it with water. Then he said, “I shall show you how a toad drinks water. Let us go and sit on that bench and watch Hoppy Hop.”
As soon as Uncle Harry and Billy had left the pan, the toad began hopping toward it. He hopped right into the middle of the pan. He spread out his legs in the water and lay there as though he were dead.
For a minute or two, Billy watched with wide eyes. Then he turned to Uncle Harry and said softly, “He isn’t drinking a bit. Why doesn’t he drink?”
“But he is drinking,” said Uncle Harry. “That’s the way he drinks. A toad does not drink with his mouth as you and I and most other animals do. Hoppy Hop can’t use water except as it soaks through his skin. That’s the way he drinks water. To see him lying there so quiet, you would not think he is just as happy as a toad can be.”
“I am so glad you came, Uncle,” said Billy. “I might have let Hoppy Hop die of thirst, for I did not know how a toad drinks. I’ll keep Hoppy Hop’s pan full of water all the time until it rains.”
Nguồn: Wikisource English — By the Roadside (Dunn and Troxell)/How the Toad Gets a Drink of Water. Văn bản được nhập và định dạng lại; CC BY-SA 4.0, có thể áp dụng điều khoản bổ sung của tác phẩm.